Abandon ship: S.J. fears bill to come due

Last February, I noted with delight the arrival at Herman and Helen's Marina of the MV Aurora, an imposing, 293-foot, pocket cruise ship unique to the Delta.

Michael Fitzgerald

Last February, I noted with delight the arrival at Herman and Helen's Marina of the MV Aurora, an imposing, 293-foot, pocket cruise ship unique to the Delta.

The ship has a rich history and a possible future as a Delta attraction. There is, however, a tangled tale behind the Aurora's arrival. That ship is a hot mess.

The port of San Francisco kicked out the vessel, for instance. Not the Aurora's first eviction.

Local officials fear Aurora's owner, as well as owners of other big ships that have gravitated to Herman and Helen's, may abandon their boats, a common Delta scenario.

Or worse, the boats will sink; and the county (read: taxpayers) may be left holding the bag.

That would be a very expensive bag. If you think it's hard to dispose legally of old TVs, try disposing of a five-deck cruise ship.

Aurora's owner, Chris Willson, vowed that will never happen.

"I will never walk away from this ship," Willson said.

Willson said he has plenty of funds and volunteer help with which to gradually restore the Aurora. He says he's unfairly beset by the bureaucracies for which the Delta is notorious.

Let's go back.

In 2013, the Port of San Francisco condemned Pier 38. The port evicted all pier tenants.

Or tried to. After the deadline, several vessels remained: the Aurora; The Fir, a 1938 165-foot lighthouse/buoy tender; and the HMCS Chaleur, a 152-foot ex-Canadian minesweeper.

The port sued the owners. Willson cross-complained. The Aurora's engines didn't work, and he refused to bear tow costs. The port settled. Wilson was paid $47,500 to go away.

"It was a long, drawn-out process," said Renee Martin, a port spokeswoman.

It was not the Aurora's first eviction. Under previous owners, the ship was something of a shady lady, said the Port of San Francisco's now-retired wharfinger (harbormaster), Hedley Prince.

"The Aurora has already been kicked out of Los Angeles, San Francisco, Solano, Sacramento and Alameda counties," Prince said.

The Aurora retreated to Stockton. The owners of the Fir and Chaleur also brought their boats here.

Why? Possibly because Herman and Helen's, carved out of a private Delta island, is outside the jurisdiction of state agencies such as the State Lands Commission.

The lessee of Herman and Helen's, Dave and Chris Johnson, arranged to sink pylons for the huge vessels. The Johnsons hoped the ships would attract tourists.

Unfortunately, the Johnsons were deep in the red. The marina is currently in court-appointed receivership pending resolution of court battles.

Furthermore - as if there needs to be more - San Joaquin County, which does have jurisdiction, says those pylons are illegal.

So is using that spot for the ships, said Doug Hensel, the deputy director of building inspection.

"Operating a mooring facility for large ships - which is prohibited - and expanding the marina without a proper land use permit," Hensel said of the alleged violations.

The county gave the vessel owners 30 days to leave. And ordered the pylons removed. The deadline passed. Nobody has complied.

It's Pier 38 all over again.

The case is being forwarded to the district attorney, Hensel said.

The vessel owners say they are well-meaning, adequately funded marine preservationists unlucky enough to have sailed from the Pier 38 frying pan into the fire.

"I come home to California, all it is is litigation," complained Rick Churches, owner of the Chaleur. "It is the most job-unfriendly state that I've ever been around."

At worst, scofflaw ship owners retreated to Herman and Helen's at the invitation of a deadbeat operator to dock at an illegal facility where, cornered, they may walk.

"Unfortunately, San Joaquin County is stuck with these characters," said Prince.

If the county ends up on the hook for the smaller vessels, it can apply for a state grant to dispose of them.

If the county gets stuck with the Aurora, it would have to obtain a rare permit to tow it out to sea and sink the enormous cruise ship as a reef. Or pay to have an ocean tug tow it to breaking yards in India or Bangladesh, Prince said.

There's probably no grant for that.

Contact columnist Michael Fitzgerald at (209) 546-8270 or michaelf@recordnet.com. Follow him at recordnet.com/fitzgeraldblog and on Twitter @Stocktonopolis.